Ponce City Market’s newest addition is making history as Georgia’s first locally sourced mass timber building.
Developer Jamestown hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 25 to celebrate the completion of 619 Ponce, a four-story loft office building.
Constructed at the corner of Ponce De Leon Avenue and Glen Iris Drive in Atlanta’s booming Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, the developer says it is the first mass timber building in Georgia to use wood from local forests. Most timber for U.S. buildings comes from Canada or Europe.
“What our hope is is that this is the beginning of taking George’s timber … and turning it into a brand new product that means something for sustainability and for how we all move forward in how we work and live,” said Michael Phillips, president and CEO of Jamestown, at the event held on the building’s second floor.
619 Ponce is Georgia’s first Georgia-grown mass timber building utilizing a regional supply chain and is a “benchmark building” for sustainable development in the Southeast, he said.
The building’s columns, beams and floor slabs are made of local southern yellow pine sawtimber harvested from Georgia forests, including from timberland Jamestown owns near Columbus, GA.
The 115,000 square-foot building’s features include exposed timber beams, high ceilings, three balconies on each floor, and floor-to-ceiling windows that can be opened. A green roof with bright flowers and wood flooring tops off the structure.
619 Ponce is divided into 88,000 square feet for office space and 27,000 square feet for retail.
Sage, a global accounting, financial, human resources and payroll technology company, has leased the third and fourth floors, about 57,000 square feet, for its North America headquarters. The company is expected to move into the space in December. Sage is paying about $50 a square foot for the space.
Pottery Barn is now open on the ground floor where it comprises more than 18,000 square feet, including a large, dedicated space for the brand’s complimentary Design Crew services.
The second floor is open for lease.
The biophilic design of 619 Ponce essentially brings nature inside. The design is believed to add to the well-being of employees and an incentive to bring people back to the office, according to the developer.
Other amenities at 619 Ponce include onsite daycare and medical facilities and direct access to the Atlanta BeltLine. Handel Architects served as the Design Architect and Architect of Record.
The building is part of Ponce City Market’s second phase that also includes Scout Living, a 21-story hospitality living concept opening later this year, and Signal House, a 21-story residential building located directly adjacent to the Atlanta BeltLine at North Avenue.
